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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Freddie Mercury on Marriage: "To me, SHE was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage."

If Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen were alive today, would he have voted Yes or No on Proposition 8, California's heavily controversial gay marriage amendment? I believe that Freddie Mercury would have cast a Yes vote, yes meaning, in the case of Proposition 8, that he would favor traditional marriage between a man and his wife, and not gay marriage.

Why? The love of Freddie Mercury's life was a woman named Mary Austin, in spite of his many sexual liasons with men. Freddie said that he considered Mary Austin to be his wife.*

Did Freddie Mercury write the song entitled "Love of My Life," for a man? No, the song "Love of My Life" was written for Mary Austin. **

Note: View You Tube slide show of Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin below.

"In the early 1970s Mercury had a long-term relationship with a girlfriend named Mary Austin (whom he had met through guitarist Brian May). He lived with Austin for many years. However, by the mid-1970s, the singer began an affair with a male record executive at Elektra Records; this ultimately resulted in the end of his relationship with Austin.[40] Mercury and Austin nevertheless remained close friends through the years, with Mercury often referring to her as his only true friend. In a 1985 interview, Mercury said of Austin, 'All my lovers asked me why they couldn't replace Mary [Austin], but it's simply impossible. The only friend I've got is Mary, and I don't want anybody else. *To me, she was my common-law wife. To me, it was a marriage. We believe in each other, that's enough for me.'"[41]**He also wrote several songs about Austin, the most notable of which is 'Love of My Life'. Mercury was also the godfather of Mary's eldest son, Richard.[33]" 1

In fact, Freddie loved Mary so much that he left most of his enormous wealth to Mary Austin. "In his will Mercury left the vast majority of his wealth, including his home and recording royalties, to Mary Austin, and the remainder to his parents and sister. He further left £500,000 to his chef Joe Fanelli, £500,000 to his personal assistant Peter Freestone, £100,000 to his driver Terry Giddings, and £500,000 to Jim Hutton.[50] Mary Austin continues to live at Mercury's home, Garden Lodge, Kensington, with her family.[50] Hutton moved back to the Republic of Ireland permanently in 1995, where he still lives. He was involved in a 2000 biography of Mercury, Freddie Mercury, the Untold Story, and also gave an interview for The Times for what would have been Mercury's 60th birthday.cf. [46]" 1